Essays on AI agent development, custom software, and the unglamorous engineering that turns "AI" from a slide into a system. Written by the people who actually build them.
The honest answer for US teams thinking about AI agent development — from a 2-day mapping sprint to production-ready systems in 4-6 weeks. What changes the timeline, and what doesn't.
The terms are used interchangeably. They shouldn't be. A practical decision framework for picking between an autonomous AI agent and a human-in-the-loop copilot — with cost, risk, and adoption tradeoffs.
Both can ship the same software. The question is who owns the technical decisions, the hiring plan, and the long-term architecture. A founder's guide to choosing — with rough numbers from US engagements.